Plank on Frame (lofting) Issues

[Treadhead]

I've been working on a scratchbuild for quite some time (click the www on my profile to see it) using the plank on frame technique. I have been having some success with it, but I do have a concern.

What will happen to the planks over time? I used superglue to butt the planks against one another (this doubles as a good gap filler as well), so I'm hoping that it will hold togehter over the long run.

I'm worried that over a few years that the plastic strips may become brittle and begin to buckle. Is this a valid cocnern? Has anyone else encountered this issue?

Please let me know.

[en'til Zog]

I've found styrene to get brittle - in about 30 years.

My worry would be the superglue.

A friend and I built a massive model for a film with a PVC pipe spine (which bent with time) and using super glue to hold a lot of bits on. Now, 15-20 years or so later, the superglue has been failing and the ship sheds greeblies a bit like Fall leaves.

[Lt. Z0mBe]

Yep. CA gets as hard as iron over time. It has uber tensile strength, but no shearing strength. It will pop right apart.

Styrene = good over time
CA = good over time, as long as you're ginger with it.

Kenny

[Warped Speedster]

I'm worried that over a few years that the plastic strips may become brittle and begin to buckle. Is this a valid cocnern? Has anyone else encountered this issue?

If it's going to happen at all, the buckling and cracking usually take place during the super gluing process, usually when a piece of styrene is stressed, or bent around a tight radius or corner. CA kicker also greatly increases the risk of cracking stressed plastic. But once it survives the CA >setting up< you're usually OK.

I been using CA for several decades and I can't remember ever having any plastic actually start to crack or deform years later. (Unless it's been exposed to the sun, or extreme temps for long spells)

Man, what a depressing thing to think about. This reminds me of the episode of "Gilligan's Island" when the S.S. Minnow's planking started to fly apart.

[Treadhead]

Man, what a depressing thing to think about. This reminds me of the episode of "Gilligan's Island" when the S.S. Minnow's planking started to fly apart.

That is exactly the image that came to mind when I posted this thread

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I light coat of epoxy, and fiberglass would go a long way toward
securing the overall build up. Something really light, like a 1.5oz cloth.